This is something I have been thinking about since the Olympics... at what point will it not be possible for human beings to swim or run any faster. There has to be a point where the human body just can't go any faster, no matter how much you train, what kind of things you put into your body (legal or not), etc.
I mean it isn't possible to swim a 400 IM, for example, in 2 seconds (at least I don't think it ever will be) so where does it end? And when will that happen?
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I'm not sure what the probability of a tie really is but I think the point stands that going to a higher precision doesn't solve the fundamental issue. If it turns out that too many ties are occurring the format of the race should be changed, either you eliminate the 50m race or you have a best of three (best time of three or best average or ...) or .... If you did ever get to the point where multiple competitors tied to within 0.01s the factors that led to one winning over another would be uninteresting, you might as well toss a coin. originally posted by Lindsay
Well the probability of a tie could increase as the years go on if you beleive the theory that has been presented here that the world record times in any particular event are asymptotically approaching some mysterious "limitting time"........I definitely see your point though.....I still want to try and solve the puzzle of creating a timing system that has enough integrity and reliability to be able to give reasonably accurate times to the nearest 0.001 second....and solve every complaint about such a system I've been given on the board.....Why you might ask?....because I like challenges....I don't actually care one way or the other about whether or not something similar is actually ever used in a future Olympic Games......And I do agree with you that swim races in which many of the swimmers touch the wall at "virtually" the same time are a little boring to watch.....but I still think it is fun to try and see how to come up with a timing system that is "doable" enough...and reasonably affordable....just to see what is possible.....I hope I'm not annoying people too much though....I appreciate all the comments b/c they help me to realize the magnitude of engineering such a timing system with the right levels of reliability and integrity to be a relatively "meaningful" system for differentiating 1st, 2nd and 3rd place (in "most" situations) when the existing timing systems do not.
newmastersswimmer
p.s. I am working on a "refined" plan to my madness....just a warning!....sorry....I can't control the geeky dark side....it takes over and I must sucumb to it!!
I'm not sure what the probability of a tie really is but I think the point stands that going to a higher precision doesn't solve the fundamental issue. If it turns out that too many ties are occurring the format of the race should be changed, either you eliminate the 50m race or you have a best of three (best time of three or best average or ...) or .... If you did ever get to the point where multiple competitors tied to within 0.01s the factors that led to one winning over another would be uninteresting, you might as well toss a coin. originally posted by Lindsay
Well the probability of a tie could increase as the years go on if you beleive the theory that has been presented here that the world record times in any particular event are asymptotically approaching some mysterious "limitting time"........I definitely see your point though.....I still want to try and solve the puzzle of creating a timing system that has enough integrity and reliability to be able to give reasonably accurate times to the nearest 0.001 second....and solve every complaint about such a system I've been given on the board.....Why you might ask?....because I like challenges....I don't actually care one way or the other about whether or not something similar is actually ever used in a future Olympic Games......And I do agree with you that swim races in which many of the swimmers touch the wall at "virtually" the same time are a little boring to watch.....but I still think it is fun to try and see how to come up with a timing system that is "doable" enough...and reasonably affordable....just to see what is possible.....I hope I'm not annoying people too much though....I appreciate all the comments b/c they help me to realize the magnitude of engineering such a timing system with the right levels of reliability and integrity to be a relatively "meaningful" system for differentiating 1st, 2nd and 3rd place (in "most" situations) when the existing timing systems do not.
newmastersswimmer
p.s. I am working on a "refined" plan to my madness....just a warning!....sorry....I can't control the geeky dark side....it takes over and I must sucumb to it!!
